Maternal and Child Health

Maternal and child health continue to be issues of concern, especially with respect to health disparities. For example, the infant mortality rate (IMR), a significant measure of health outcomes, decreased by nearly 13 percent for the county over the past 10 years. Compared to the national rate, L.A. Countyâ€™s IMR is surprisingly low, reflecting the influence of the growing Latino population with a lower IMR, and the fact that nearly nine out ten percent of women began prenatal care in the first trimester. However, the IMR was twice as high for African Americans, and the IMR in SPA 1 (Antelope Valley) was nearly double the county rate.